Transcript

00:00:01

>> Marks and Spencer is pulling down the shutters of many of its stores. The British retailer says it will shut about 30 branches at home and 53 overseas. Some other shops will lose glass making, clothing, and home lines and just sell food. Reuters' retail correspondent James Davey says, the company was under pressure to act.

00:00:22

>> It's really because in the UK M&S is over spaced. It's got about 900 stores. With the change in shopping habits to move towards the internet, M&S just needs to cut back to save some money.>> The shop affectionately nicknamed Marks and Sparks once ruled the British high street.

00:00:40

The clothes store of choice for generations of households. Clothing will now be streamlined by shedding labels such as Colleccione and Indigo. M&S will also close overseas stores in countries including France and China. Focusing instead on its franchises, which tend to do better.>> So the problem with M&S is it serves a very broad church.

00:01:02

So on the one hand it needs to cater for basic essentials, and on the other hand it's trying to target a more fashionable market. And the problem is that it always tends to upset one pass at the market. Over the last decade as well it faced intense competition from the likes of Next stealing its market share and also the supermarket which have increasingly encroached into their kind of fashion territory.

00:01:28

>> Though bitten from both directions, Marks and Spence have remained the UK clothing market leader by value. But it seems the glory days could be over.